Key stuck in ignition/ Battery Issue

[Deke736]

Originally Posted by Normagene

Thanks for clarifying. Let me know how that works out, if your going to keep it or its good enough for now. Taillights work, but for the brake lights to work the key has to be on? Is that correct? If that's the case I like this setup, it's definitely acceptable. So your experiment now will be to leave the car alone for several days, with the new wiring, and see if there is any battery drain? How many days did it go without the charger? Will you test/measure the battery after x number of days. Could still be draining, but just much slower. Keep us posted, I'm sure lots of people are interested in your results.

To answer your questions, I did some quick testing this morning before leaving for work.

Taillights work fine without the key.

Brake lights work without the key as long as the lights are turned on with the knob.

Hazard lights also work without the key as long as the lights are turned on with the knob.

Everything works like it should with the key turned in the ignition.

The only functionality lost without the pink wire run to the battery are the taillight brake lights without the key. I did not test show mode with the headlights on, but I would imagine since everything else works with the lights turned on show mode would too.

Another thing I noticed when I was working on the car last night was that my power and ground wires for my amp were loose. I don't know if that could cause a drain since the amp wasn't on, but it is now fixed.

My next steps will be to let the car sit for a few days and monitor the voltage at the battery. My previous time between dead batteries is just over 4 days (full on evening of Feb 6 - dead on morning of Feb 11). I have left all of my other LED's wired as they have always been- all of them on a constant 12v source, but with manual on/off switches. I am hoping I don't have anymore issues, and if that is the case I will be happy. If I still see a power drain I will be taking the car into the dealer to have it checked out. There are currently no accessories receiving constant power other than what came on the car from the factory, so if this doesn't resolve the drain it has to be a problem elsewhere in the electrical system, maybe even a bad battery.

[Normagene]

Originally Posted by Pappa Joe

mine was sitting 3 months without starting or charger had no probs battery was still at 3/4

Do you have the Technostagia Sequential Taillights? That's what Deke736/we suspect to be the culprit. Yes some juice is always being drawn on these new cars, but with these aftermarket taillights we're talking draining the battery in less than a week. So far the best solution seems to be the ignition connection method. Still like to know if/how much it drains connected this way.

[Deke736]

Originally Posted by Normagene

So far the best solution seems to be the ignition connection method. Still like to know if/how much it drains connected this way.

I will be keeping this thread updated with my findings!

[Normagene]

Originally Posted by Deke736

I will be keeping this thread updated with my findings!

TCAT has a Huge Thread on these lights, I'd post your findings on there as well. Some of those people may not be aware of your thread. He even has a list of people with these lights installed. Seems like everyone of them whom leaves the car for a week or so comes home to find the lights in show mode and an almost or dead battery.

[Normagene]

Looking for an update please. With your new wiring setup has it discharged/drained the battery? Been close to two weeks since the ignition setup. Hope that's working, if so I'll follow/try your setup. No hurry, I'm still waiting for it to warm up, and more rain/snow this weekend. Never heard back from Todd on a connection diagram. Be nice if the manufacturer had a solution with hookup instructions for an ignition setup.

p.s. I gotta check out your photos again, hope you got some new ones posted. Best AGM I've ever seen!

Thanks

[Deke736]

Sorry I didn't get a chance to respond earlier. My fix seems to be working. The voltage measured at the battery earlier today was 11.83v as shown in the picture below. My normal resting voltage is about 12.11v, so there was a little loss, but not much. Also, since there are a bunch of other electrical systems in the car, it is possible this voltage drop is not from the taillights. This was after sitting for two weeks, but I will tell you that I started it once last Saturday when I had some friends over that wanted to hear it and see the lights. It ran for about 5 minutes and was rev'd up a few times. This morning it fired right up after sitting for a week.


Voltage after sitting for 7 days:

Here is my voltage with the car running today:


I also owed you a picture of the pink wire and how I have it ran now. The blue wire is the amp remote wire. See the pic below.



Oh, and I will be updating my build thread soon. I just received a bunch of new painted goodies under the hood, I just haven't got them all installed yet. I am also going to be redoing all of my lights and I have some you new carbon fiber parts to install as well!

[OKCwhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by Normagene

TCAT has a Huge Thread on these lights, I'd post your findings on there as well. Some of those people may not be aware of your thread. He even has a list of people with these lights installed. Seems like everyone of them whom leaves the car for a week or so comes home to find the lights in show mode and an almost or dead battery.

I am on the mentioned list,so before going out of town for a week,I unplugged the taillights(one on each side). Today I plugged them back in and the car started right up.An easy solution if you have these lights and don't drive it for a week or more.Also,very easy for my wife to plug in if she would need(emergency) to drive it,while I am out of town.

[Libertyracer]

I have the technostalgia afterburners and just had this same exact problem. Show mode was going on when I walked in my garage today and was getting dimmer and dimmer. Key ended up stuck in the lock and nothing worked on the car electrically or to get the key out. Its obviously meant to do that when the power dies. I will try the pink wire trick SOON and thanks for all the info! Here's a shot of my Maggie-blown 2010 2SS/RS.

[Normagene]

Nice ride Libertyracer. Pic doesn't show the taillights? My problem is if I unplugged/disconnected the power, I'd probably forget to reconnect before taking off. So I'd end up driving with no taillights at all. That's why I'll use the battery tender if I leave it parked any extended period of time. I do love the look of these lights and its an annoying consequence, but I can deal with it!

[Libertyracer]

Here's a couple of shots of the Afterburner lights that will kill your battery after awhile. I've had tons of problems with them; mostly with them doing random displays and flickering sometimes while I'm driving around. I've paid to have new wiring harnesses put in 3 times AFTER the initial installation and they are still doing random flickering. I like the effect of them but I wish I could find a better version that's more reliable.

[Normagene]

Mine have been in for less than two weeks and the other day I was checking them out to find the passenger side inner lite bottom half circle out. Worked fine when I did install and not sure when it when out, but not even two weeks, come on. Now if I have to ship it back I'll have one stock taillight as a temp? Ridiculous. Here's a pic of after install, when all was fine, and a pic I took the other day.


How long will I be without a taillight? One stock as a temp, how crazy will that look? If they send a new one I'll have to retint/clear/reinstall. Not very happy.

[Normagene]

Got an email response today with instructions to fix the problem. Will give it a try tomorrow or Sunday. Seems like an easy fix.

[Normagene]

Followed the instructions provided in the email and it literally took less than five minutes to fix! Noticed that when the light was reinserted a couple of the wires pinched at the lower nut which probably pulled and loosened the connection. Anyway, she's all fixed and the lights look perfect! Just glad it only happened to the inner light, the outer ones have very little room and are very difficult to remove.

[AKA-22]

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